Heroes Can Emerge From Graveyards
by The Arbiter
Summary: A world annihilated by bestial invaders. A champion-in-wait is forced to leave his planet because of them. But the planet he arrives at already has it's own heroes. However, who said heroes were in short demand?
1. A World Overtaken

'_They seemed to overwhelm Arcania in an instant…'_

_'Why are they here? Why are they obliterating our homes?'_

_'Family… companions… all gone…'_

_'What have we done to deserve this?'_

"The thoughts hurt. Our people are dying. But you still must concentrate," echoed the voice of an old man.

He did as the elder instructed and proceeded with his meditation, despite the systematic destruction of his people all over his home planet. Arcania was under siege. And the thought of their combined suffering weighed heavily on his conscience

"Tell me one more time why we do not aid our people in vanquishing these monsters," the voice of an Arcanian teenager softly spoke.

"There is no honor… in sacrificing yourself for a lost cause. There are millions of them, and you are but one entity. Strong as you are, you will not survive, let alone defeat an armada," The elder responded in a stoic tone.

The planet of Arcania. It was a planet of purity, with violet skies and marvelous landscapes which were willingly left untainted by the humanoids of the planet. The inhabitants made strives for better lives without destructive aftermaths on the planet that would sustain their existance. An advanced race; a religious one; one of purity, and one in turmoil.

It started at nightfall. The dark brings out the dreads of night, and this night was no different. They came in the millions. Ravenous "theys", acting on animal instinct. "Only the strong survive" is merely an understatement. From out of nowhere, these indescribable beasts ripped emerged and ripped a population of a near billion into a small several thousand during the night cycle. Men, women, and children; all thrashed and disemboweled in mere instants by beastly unknowns.

Night turned into day, and the sun illuminated a land littered with the lifeless. Not all necessarily the Arcanians. Some of the beasts were slain due to small resistances here and there. But to make a long story short, warriors are guaranteed a grave when they combat a near-invincible force.

Arcanians seemed to drop like a chain of dominoes, but it is indifferent to the elderly Shojo and his teenage apprentice.

"We must make good use of our time left. Your training is near complete," Shojo softly spoke.

To the planet of Arcania, Shojo is the equivalent of some of our greatest heroes, such as Son Goku or Liu Kang. Throughout his prosperous life, he has honed his martial art skills. Through the use of martial arts and supernatural talents that emerged from the arts, Shojo has become one of Arcania's most powerful entities of all time. However, anyone can be mighty, but a select few put that might to good use. Where there is good, there is evil, and for many years, Shojo has made it his work to thwart the forces of evil to the best of his abilities. Unfortunately, time does not recognize the good deeds of man, and Shojo found himself in the position to pass off his learnings to a suitable sucessor.

As frail as Shojo has become, he made a lightning-fast lunge towards his meditating apprentice. The long sleeve of Shojo's violet tunic failed to rustle due to the elder hero's swift finger thrust. But even with no signs of action or reaction, a finger belonging to the apprentice intercepted the elder's, blocking his lunge. With a look of contentment, Shojo withdrew and rose to his feet.

"It is complete," Shojo said, "You may rise, Katatz."

Katatz was a boy with middle-length red hair, sharp eyes, with white pants and an opened white short-sleeve shirt with a red undershirt revealing itself through the open and on the boy's arms. Thanks to Shojo, Katatz had become a prodigious warrior, even though he was merely four in Arcanian years, which is roughly around seventeen in our world. Needless to say, Shojo had selected Katatz to "carry the torch" when he could no longer do so.

"Congratulations, young one. An arduous four years of training has instilled upon you the knowledge of my years," Shojo's soft elderly voice said.

"I thank you for the training, master," Katatz solemnly responded, "However, I must know. What were your intentions on furthering my training whilst our people get annihilated by the invaders?"

"My son…" Shojo replied, "I am nearing the end of my days. 21 is a long time for an Arcanian to live in bodily form. While the Spirited World is the most prosperous land to ascend into, those that still exist on our physical plane still need a champion."

"I do not understand. First, you instruct me not to sacrifice myself in a fight against the invaders. Now you're telling me that I am intended to be the champion of this world?" Katatz questioned.

"Not Arcania. Our race is a doomed existence," Shojo answered. "The physical plane extends far beyond our world."

"If you're implying that I leave my home world, even _you_ are mistaken!" Katatz shouted out.

"Do _not_ be a fool, my son. I did not bestow upon you my fighting knowledge so you could squander it with your premature demise!" Shojo retorted, "Arcania is dying. There is no sense in being a champion to nobody…"

As Shojo was about to complete his thought, one of the bestial invaders crashed through the walls of Shojo's quaint home. A monstrosity with evil, yellow eyes and dark gray scaled skin. It's sharp nails and it's muscular physique could easily rip apart nearly anything, and justified it's ability to plow through structural walls with ease. It's mighty tail whipped around and demolished some of the home decorum, and joined the demonic head of the beast in a mighty roar as the tail tip split into quarters, revealing a sort of a mouth.

"I sense only one. Can I punish _one_ of these monsters?" Katatz requested.

"You may proceed. A lone Xeno pails in comparison to your might." Shojo confirmed as Katatz took a fighting pose.

As the Xeno made a pounce, Katatz darted towards the invader and elbowed it in the stomach.

"You are not welcome on this planet, let alone Master Shojo's home!" Cried Katatz as he continued his attack.

The beastly Xeno regained itself and lunged it's tail at Katatz, who continued his charge. A forceful fist through the tail opening split the tail into two halves. With an arm drenched in green blood, Katatz channeled energy into his drenched arm and fired an energy blast at the Xeno, launching the beast back a distance as it howled in pain. Katatz leapt into the air and mightily stomped on the head of the recovering invader. The face was crunched in between a foot and the earth; "a rock and a very hard place", and the beast promptly died.

"Well, that was not too difficult…" Katatz assured himself.

Shojo approached Katatz from behind.

"An adequate display of what I have taught you, my son." Shojo commented. "Might I suggest that you make haste and flee before other Xeno arrive in the vicinity."

"That monster was no match for me. I should be able to fend for myself…" Katatz replied.

"No! The fall of a single adversary does not mean you will conquer an entire fleet of adversaries!" Shojo interrupted. "You must go, now!"

"I'm not going anywhere. Now that I've seen what I can do, there may be hope for Arcania." Katatz said.

Shojo sighed to himself as he swiftly punched Katatz in his stomach. The force of the blow was enough to knock out the young, yet mighty fighter.

"My son. I will not permit you to commit suicide like this. It is too late for Arcania, but it is not too late for you. You can do good for many people, but not if you or the people are dead…"

Using the mystical energies from within, Shojo teleport himself and his protégé to a remote region of Arcania with lush vegetation. The elder hero shrugged some vegetation to the side and revealed a spherical pod.

"This escape pod will enable you to flee from a dead world. I had this constructed for an event such as our Apocalypse. You will not be killed this day…"

As the pod opened, Shojo placed his unconscious apprentice inside and programmed a flight destination. The pod closed and ascended into the atmosphere at an amazing speed.

"You will go where you are needed… which is anywhere but here." Shojo took a fighting pose. "As for you Xeno that have been awaiting to strike, I suggest that you do now. Destroy me if you must, but do not taunt me with your hesitance."

Shojo braced himself and prepared for the worst as the Xeno began their attack. For about three seconds, Shojo was able to fend for himself with a flurry of punches, kicks, and energy attacks, but one Xeno struck, and the elderly hero was soon disemboweled…

The escape pod zipped through space, carrying an unconscious hero-to-be. In a matter of moments, the pod found itself aimed at a planet of blue and green. Additional moments passed and the pod entered Earth's atmosphere. A black and starry atmosphere changed into a blue and cloudy one as Katatz cracked open his eyes just in time for his escape pod to collide with the ground below.


	2. I'm Here for Five Minutes and Look What ...

Katatz stumbled out of his pod. Weary from the crash landing, the Arcanian hero-to-be dropped to the ground. Unlike the earth on his home world, this ground felt like a continuous slab of smoothened out stone. That was not the only difference he noticed upon his arrival to this alien world called Earth. The gravity seemed light. The air was rich and oxygenic, though tainted with waste that rendered the atmosphere impure. But with these realizations, Katatz made his way to his feet and sighed.

'_At least I know I can survive here…_' Katatz thought to himself, '_But… where am I?_'

"ALIEN!" A voice shot out from the crowd that formed ever since Katatz's escape pod crashed into their city. Upon the shout, the crowd quickly scattered, and Katatz was left scratching their head.

"The dwellers of this planet are quite irrational…" Katatz realized as he walked away from the crash site.

The Arcanian set foot on the sidewalks and continued his travel. He took in the surroundings with hungry eyes.

"This planet's architecture is astounding. The people here must value appearances," Katatz said to himself as he gazed at the concrete structures he walked by. However, his focus was too much on the architecture and not enough on the pedestrians he consistently bumped into. Far too often he found himself pardoning the Earthlings, whom they responded by acting as if nothing happened.

'_Too bad that the dwellers of this planet are not nearly as nice as the structures they have constructed_,' the Arcanian thought, '_And when I got out of my pod, they were terrified of me, but now they do not recognize me. Well, I do look like the people of this planet…_"

"BANK ROBBERY!" Another voice exclaimed through the crowds.

"These people and their outbursts…" Katatz said to himself.

"We need the police here!"

"What the fuck are those oinkers gonna do? We need the Titans!"

'_This planet also has police? Judging from these outbursts, their police force must not have the strength required to apprehend whatever evil plagues this "bank",_' Katatz thought as he approached one of the humans, "Excuse me, can you tell me where this 'bank' is located?"

"What are you, an out-of-towner?" The person responded.

"Yes, I recently crash-landed onto this planet, but that is unimportant. If your 'bank' is in need of assistance, I can do no good if I do not know where it is located," Katatz replied.

"You're weird, kid, but the bank's right in front of your face. Speaking of being in people's faces, OUT OF MY WAY!" The pedestrian exclaimed as he forced himself past Katatz. The Arcanian entered the bank, where he was greeted by a foul odor.

"Rancid…" Katatz said as he blocked off his nose.

More people were scrambling to escape the crime scene, but their escape was troubled by the brown clouds of noxious gas clouding everybody's vision, and forcing them to run into walls trying to find the exit. Katatz looked through the smog to find another teenage boy holding up a bank teller. The other boy was dressed in light-brown tights with dark brown gloves, boots, and shoulder pads.

"Alright. Give me your money! Unless you want Malodor to unleash enough odor in here to melt your nose straight off your face!" The other boy known as Malodor demanded.

"I hate to interrupt, but your intimidation really stinks," Katatz taunted, causing Malodor to turn his attention to the alien.

Through all of his induced smog, Malodor could not get a good look at the person interrupting his robbery. Through a motion in his hands, he retracted his foul odors. The people still trapped in the bank got a good breath of air and scrambled to the exit as Malodor made eye contact with Katatz.

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be? A wannabe Titan who failed the initiation?" Malodor wisecracked.

"Wannabe? I AM a titan." Katatz said as he powered up, generating a white flaming aura.

"Nice special effects…" Malodor satirized as he shot a stream of odor from his palm towards the Arcanian. The odor engulfed the boy, but it did little else. Malodor stood back dumbfounded. "You must have a nose of steel…"

"No. I just choose not to use my nose to breathe," Katatz explained. "Your manner of attack involves incapacitating your opponents through means of stench. But for those who do not smell, the attack is useless."

"Not bad. You can get around my odor attacks. But are you willing to bet that the other people here can?" Malodor questioned.

Katatz phased out and appeared behind Malodor and said, "They will not need to, because we are going to take this fight outside…" and followed up with a powerful kick that forced the foul villain through the exit. Katatz followed. On the hard, outside concrete, Malodor lifted himself off the ground as Katatz entered his fighting stance.

"Out here, your gaseous attacks are useless. Surrender, or prepare for battle," Katatz threatened.

"I came here to get some quick money; not to surrender to some wannabe Titan!" Malodor exclaimed.

"Someone call for Titans?" A voice was heard from above as five different individuals touched ground. One that was cybernetic; Cyborg. Another one with green skin; Beast Boy. A female in a violet-blue cloak; Raven. Another girl dressed in purple; Starfire. And the supposed leader wearing red and green tights and wielding dual nightsticks; Robin.

"I thought something was rotten at the bank, and here you are." Robin said.

"Ack… the REAL Titans. Oh well, can't catch what you can't see!" Malodor exclaimed as he masked himself in gaseous form, rendering him invisible.

"He has vanished…" Starfire inquired.

"Not really. Malodor's just using masking himself. My sensors will see right through his invisibility," Cyborg assured his teammates, "Already found him."

As Cyborg was about to make his attack on the cloaked Malodor, Katatz rushed in with amazing speed and delivered a flying kick to the manipulator of gas, disabling the cloak and revealing Malodor.

"How… how did you… find me?" Malodor weakly asked.

"How _did_ that guy find him! He was _invisible_, and you don't just _see_ invisible people!" Beast Boy flailed.

"Heh… that's an easy question, Malodor." Katatz said to the fallen criminal, "I sniffed you out…"

"Son of a…" Malodor was interrupted by his own unconsciousness. Malodor dropped to the ground as Katatz took a step back.

"Malodor… you will come to regret your attempted theft when this civilization's police arrive to pass their judgement on you," Katatz solemnly said down to the defeated villain.

As Katatz resumed marveling the structures of Earth, the Titans huddled with each other.

"Lemme guess, this guy got your memo about auditions to join the Titans," Beast Boy sarcastically said to Robin.

"No. I honestly have no idea who this guy is. His motivations or even his name!" Robin responded.

"All we know is that he's not from around here. You hear how he talked to Malodor? Too formal to be Earthling," Raven added.

"Think he might have something to do with that space pod that crashed in the city a couple minutes ago?" Cyborg asked.

Cyborg's question sparked a response of "Yes" from the Arcanian. "That was mine."

"That saves us an investigation…" Robin said.

"Well, all of this not fighting crime is making me work up an appetite. Anyone up for pizza?" Beast Boy asked.

"Wondrous idea! Let us celebrate our recent victory with the eating of the pie of pizza!" Starfire joyously exclaimed.

'_Sounds like _she's_ not from around here, either,_' Katatz thought to himself.

"Your travels must've made you hungry, too," Robin said to Katatz, "And we're going out for some good pizza; the best in the town. You wanna come along?"

"Very well. I don't know this planet very well. Over our meal, you might be able to answer some questions I have about your home world, uh… I don't recall getting your name." Katatz responded.

"I'm Robin. Collectively, we're the Teen Titans," The Boy Wonder replied.

'_Teen Titans. So that is what Malodor meant when he referred to me as a wannabe Titan_,' Katatz thought, '_He must have thought I was in allegiance with Robin's clan._'

"As for your name?" Robin asked.

"I am Katatz," The Arcanian replied.

"Well, Katatz, I'll tell you all you need to know about Earth."

Katatz's eyes widened. '_Earth! This is the fabled planet Earth?'_


	3. Time to Play the Hero Again

'_Earth… I can't believe this planet is actually Earth. It… seems to serene!_'

The realization that he had landed on Earth was the only thought circulating through Katatz's mind as he found himself a part of an invited luncheon with the Teen Titans. And to think that all he had to do was defeat a bank robber with power over stench in order to make himself known the Titans. Well, actually, he didn't know that. A little thing called "having only been on Earth for ten minutes" has a way of taking it's toll on just about any alien. But Katatz was willing to learn, and it appeared that Robin was willing to explain.

The Titans, along with their guest, were at the pizza parlor. But the serenity that Katatz had perceived so far on Earth was interrupted by a loud argument.

"Dude! I'm not eating meat!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Aww come on, BB," Cyborg instigated, "You can transform into animals, so you should know how delicious they are on pizza!"

"No meat!" Beast Boy repeated himself.

"Tell me again why we're not ordering a half-and-half?" Raven said to herself.

Ignoring the argument, Katatz resumed to gaze at his surroundings.

"Friend, you do not wish to argue about what toppings shall be placed on the pizza?" Starfire asked the Arcanian.

"I do not even know what 'pizza' is…" Katatz replied.

"Well don't worry. We'll be ordering soon once Cyborg and Beast Boy give it a rest," Robin assured.

"So you will wait until they slumber before you order this pizza?" Katatz asked.

As Starfire giggled to herself, Robin responded with "Not exactly. We're gonna wait until they come to a decision about toppings."

"Half… and… half…" Raven said in an irritated, yet still monotonous tone.

"I don't think I've introduced you to the rest of the team," Robin said. "This is Starfire."

"Hello, new friend! I am pleased to meet you!" Starfire said in her usual joyous tone.

"This is Raven," Robin introduced.

"Hi," Raven said in her usual non-joyous tone.

"Cyborg," Robin proceeded.

"I'm telling you, you don't know what you're missing!" Cyborg yelled to Beast Boy before turning his attention to the Arcanian. "Oh, yo!"

"And last but not least, Beast Boy."

"Sup!" Beast Boy greeted.

"Collectively, we're the Teen Titans. We're responsible for keeping the peace, and we would've taken down Malodor if you didn't take him out first." Robin concluded.

"I am pleased to meet your acquaintances. As for my name, I am Katatz," The Arcanian introduced himself to the Titans, "I come from…"

Before Katatz could finish his thought, an electronic device sounded. Robin pulled out a small, yellow device that was marked with a "T".

"Trouble at the H-District!" Robin exclaimed, "Someone named Osmosis."

"Another newbie to stomp out, huh?" Cyborg inquired with a somewhat arrogant tone.

"Unless one of us fought against someone named 'Osmosis' and kept it a secret," Raven added her two cents.

"What about pizza?" Beast Boy moaned.

"It'll have to wait," Robin ordered. "Titans, move out! And Katatz, sorry, but we have to… go?"

To Robin's dismay, Katatz had vanished from his seat. But business is business, and the Titans departed to thwart their new nemesis.

From the rooftops of the city, Katatz made a mad dash towards impending danger. Rooftop to rooftop, he leapt. He didn't know the city very well, but he seemed to know where to go in order to find this "Osmosis" character and thwart his troubling activity.

'_I sense the activity of an entity stronger than a normal Earthling_,' Katatz thought to himself. '_Quite possibly this "Osmosis" that is wrecking havoc within something called "H-District". I suppose I'll have to rectify this evil as well._'

Katatz continued his rush until he found himself in a more suburban area of the city. Unlike the rest of the city, this area seemed less populated with skyscrapers and whatnot and more so with family homes and a convenience shop here and there. From the rooftops, he saw what could best be described as a dynamic blue blob demolishing homes.

"This must be H-District, and _that_ must be Osmosis…" Katatz said to himself.

Before Katatz could make his move, a barrage of green blasts rained down upon Osmosis. The gelatinous mass turned it's attention to the Titans.

"Whatever you came to take into yourself, you're going to take a beating instead," Robin taunted. "Titans, go!"

'_Looks like they are going to battle this thing instead of myself…_'Katatz thought to himself as he watched the Titans charge Osmosis.

Osmosis shot a stream of it's own bodily essence at the Titans, but they promptly split up to avoid being struck by Osmosis's attack. Starfire and Cyborg attacked with a barrage of starbolts and a photon laser respectively, but Osmosis's body shifted to dodge their attacks, and estates were ravaged. With their failed attack, Osmosis was too distracted to avoid Robin's explosive discs. As a cloud of dust appeared, a smaller blob fired from the dust and took the Boy Wonder by surprise as he was impaled and plastered to the outer walls of a nearby house. Pushing against the wall, Robin broke free from his containment and rejoined the battle.

Osmosis began to drift towards his next opponent, Beast Boy. The liquid entity dove towards the changeling. Luckily, Beast Boy was able to morph into an electric eel in time to administer a hefty shock towards the liquid-based villain. In a desperate attempt to shrug him away, Osmosis spawned a wide limb from its body and swiped the changeling away, only to be impaled by a lamppost. Osmosis regained himself just in time to become hammered by another lamppost utilized by Raven's dark talents. With an available opening, Cyborg and Starfire opened fire once more and blasted Osmosis with authority.

"If at first you don't succeed, make sure you kick some ass the second time around," Cyborg gloated.

Throughout the fight, Osmosis was being trimmed away. Small portions of the viscous mass were scattered throughout the noticeably ravaged region. The gooky villain once again tried to regain itself, but a staff through its body kept Osmosis down. Robin, the staff wielder, retracted his staff and took a step back.

"You're washed up," Robin said with contempt.

"Enough… with the one liners…" Osmosis gurgled.

The portions of Osmosis's eroded body began to react and spring towards the Titans. Forceful impacts threw the heroes into Osmosis's body as the gooky villain once again became whole. After pulling itself together, Osmosis used its bodily talents to pin the Titans to house walls.

"He was playing possum!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"I do not like how he plays! It is not very fun!" Starfire added.

"Don't worry, guys! I know how we can get out of this one!" Beast Boy reassured.

"If your plan is to become the eel again, it will not work, unless your friends are… disposable to you," Osmosis frothed.

"He's right. He's practically water," Raven responded. "Any electricity you use will shock us."

"We have to find some way out of his grip!" Robin yelled as he struggled to break free.

"By the time you free yourself, it will be too late," Osmosis scoffed, "I am named Osmosis for a reason. I consume what I grasp, and you are all in my clutches…"

The Titans began to scream as they felt themselves being consumed. Osmosis began to laugh and gurgle until the tentacles that pinned the Titans were severed by swift slashes; too swift for anyone to see, until Katatz appeared with dual energy swords in hand. Osmosis howled, as the Titans broke free of their gunky imprisonment.

"Katatz!" Robin called out.

"I'm telling you, you don't know what you're missing!" Katatz erroneously greeted. "Oh, yo!"

With blank stares on the faces of the Titans, Raven turned to Cyborg and said "Now you can hear firsthand how pizza arguments ruin the mind."

"Ha! I'm more of a role model than I thought!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Enough drivel!" Osmosis belched before he acknowledged Katatz. "Who are you?"

"I am Katatz." The Arcanian illustrated, "If you require an opponent outside of your capabilities to defeat, I will fight you."

"Where five people have failed to defeat me, a lone warrior will fare no better," Osmosis frothed. "You have squandered your element of surprise. How will you win?"

"Let me worry about that." Katatz retorted with a smirk as he took a fighting stance.

"Thanks to Katatz, we have another chance to beat Osmosis. Titans, move!" Robin commanded.

The five Titans rushed towards Osmosis once more. Using its gooey tentacles, Osmosis smacked four of the Titans away. Only Robin remained on the charge, and he got some hits on the gloppy mass. A roundhouse kick to a leg sweep, followed by some swipes with his dual nightsticks did little more than ripple the liquefied behemoth, and a binding with one tentacle and a flurry of whippings from the other tentacles was the price Robin paid for his failed attack. But a swift slash of Katatz's energy sword freed Robin from yet another hopeless situation. He shook himself off and rose to his feet, but before Robin could attempt another attack, Katatz blocked his path using his energy sword.

"Enough, Robin!" Katatz exclaimed.

"You're kidding, right! Get your Halo 2 newb stick out of my way!" Robin shot back. "We have to beat Osmosis!"

"Just like you have been doing?" Katatz questioned. "Listen, a hero can do no good if he fails to accomplish his act of heroism. Your aim is to quell Osmosis's evil, yet _he_ is quelling _your _good."

The other Titans regrouped with Robin and Katatz.

"As much as none of us want to admit, we have no way of beating Osmosis right now." Raven added. "He's a new villain, and we came into this battle entirely unprepared."

"There's a way to beat everyone." Robin responded. "Beast Boy, do you think you can use the electric eel again?"

"If Kenshin Himura lets me get another crack at him." Beast Boy replied as he pointed towards Katatz walking towards Osmosis.

Katatz gazed at Osmosis. A look of determination was on his face as Osmosis paused his demolition of nearby buildings and prepared to duel the Arcanian

'_He's entirely amorphous._' Katatz thought to himself. '_Physical attacks will do nothing to him, and neither will small energy attacks. But unlike the Titans, I have something that might actually work._'

"So the big bad lone wolf is finally going to step up to my might…" Osmosis cockily said.

'_I think I will have to destroy Osmosis with one massive attack. If this fight keeps lingering, the H-District will crumble. If I fail, the H-District crumbles, because it is clear that the Titans cannot defeat Osmosis, and he is free to continue his rampage. I suppose this is the Divine Presence's way of testing me to see if I am fit to be a champion._'

Osmosis made the first move. A flurry of tentacles suddenly shot at Katatz, but using his great speed, Katatz was able to dodge the tentacles as he approached the liquefied mass.

'_I will have to launch Osmosis into the skies in order to spare the architecture from my attack…_' Katatz thought as he proceeded with his rush.

A leap into the air freed the Arcanian from the flurry of tentacles, only for him to confront another barrage of processed limbs. With little control of himself in the air, Katatz resorted to hacking away the tentacles with his dual swords, until he plummeted into Osmosis's very essense.

"That motherfucker is nuts!" Cyborg said from the sidelines. "He's right where Osmosis can do his worst!"

"If he absorbs Katatz, that's just more trouble for us! Let's… woah…" Robin stopped his own rant.

"HAHAHAHA!" Osmosis scoffed. "For someone who thought he could defeat me, you sure did last a whole five seconds in combat. Now you're merely a warrior fit for a meal…" Osmosis continued to laugh, unaware of the energies Katatz was generating from within.

'_Keep saying that…_'Katatz thought as he powered up.

In an instant, Katatz exploded with power. A tower of energy was the aftermath of the Arcanian's power eruption, and Osmosis was expelled into the sky, while Katatz remained on ground level. Getting a firm foothold on the ground, Katatz cupped his hands and channeled more energy. A white orb appeared inside the area of his two cupped palms.

"Be purified by light!" Katatz screamed. "_Juu'co Juu'co Miedotat!_"

As he completed his incantation, he forced his arms towards Osmosis and fired a tremendous blast of concentrated light energy, kicking up a cloud of dust that blanketed the entire region and disrupted the view of the Titans. The dust was the least of the attack, for there was the attack itself that impaled Osmosis. As the gooey mass gurgled in pain, he disintegrated within the blast.

The dust dissipated momentarily, and the Titans regained the view of the H-District, where all that remained was Katatz. Osmosis was nowhere to be seen.

"That was the Fighting Street, yes?" Starfire asked her teammates.

"More like something you'd see out of Dragon Ball Z…" Beast Boy said with astonishment.

Where the five Teen Titans had failed in battle, a lone warrior succeeded in little time, with a power far beyond anyone could've comprehended. A realization left one thought in their minds…

'_Who is this guy?_'


	4. Inadequacies

H-District. What was once a run-of-the-mill suburban area of Jump City has been left scarred from battle. The roads were ravaged. Homes were wrecked. Property was pummeled. The scenery was partially destroyed to prevent its entire annihilation; to make peace, we must make war. And thus the Teen Titans have waged a furious war against a liquid entity named Osmosis for what may have lasted no longer than fifteen minutes because of the intervention of Katatz, the lone survivor of Arcania. Where five heroes struggled to defeat one adversary, one alien warrior had annihilated Osmosis to protect the region.

"Any sign of Osmosis anywhere?" Robin questioned his teammates.

"No, man. I'm telling you, that Hadouken wasted that guy!" Cyborg shot back towards his leader.

"So…" Raven began to speak. "What are Katatz's intentions for helping us?"

"Here's your chance to ask Kazee himself," Beast Boy responded, "Because here he comes."

"And he looks as though he is urinated," Starfire added.

"Star… It's 'pissed'." Robin replied.

With what could be best described as a fire in his eyes, Katatz approached the Titans.

"Uh… Way to go. You beat Osmosis." Robin nervously said as he scratched the back of his head.

"This isn't a victory!" Katatz exclaimed.

"Dude, what are you talking about? Without you, this place would be rubble." Beast Boy replied.

"This region already _is _rubble." Katatz responded. "Do you not see the blatant scars that exist because of the battle with Osmosis? The demolished architecture… tell me you do _not _see that!"

"We see it," Raven calmly retorted. "And the entire region would've been obliterated if it weren't for you. Buildings can be rebuilt…"

For a moment, there was silence. But Raven's remark struck a chord deep within the Arcanian.

"Fight me…" the Arcanian coldly challenged.

"You're kidding, right?" Robin questioned.

"No." Katatz reacted. "The attitude you are displaying is unbecoming of a hero. Heroes should be willing to accept challenges of combat! Heroes should not permit the destruction of lives and surroundings at all! This planet's denizens and even this planet's evildoers revere you. You have a reputation on this legendary planet. Earth, the home planet of the most legendary of heroes whose feats extend for lightyears. Your attitude towards the evils you face and your manner of confronting evil is not heroic!"

Cyborg was next to respond with, "Do you think we _want_ people wrecking shit in Jump City? No! Do you think we _want _to feed into someone's expectations of us? No! There are casualties in this line of work. And it's our job to limit those casualties if we can't stop everything indefinitely!"

With only more fuel added to the fire, Katatz retaliated with, "Carelessly involving these structures and those who utilize them help you in your 'line of work'! The hero is supposed to protect and serve, not endanger and annihilate! And if you cannot grasp that fact, then I _will_ usurp your duties as this region's heroes!" Katatz proceeded to activate his dual energy swords and ready himself for combat.

"It's ironic." Robin said. "You critique our inability to protect these surroundings to the grain, yet you wish to challenge us seemingly right here and now."

"You may lead me to a different battlefield if you so wish." Katatz responded.

"Then follow us. I know a place where we can settle this dispute." Robin replied.

Cyborg directed the rest of the Titans to his T-Car. Almost immediately after boarding their car, they began to drive off. Inside the T-Car…

"So where are we going?" Cyborg asked Robin.

"Take us to the outskirts of the city. We'll do this at the canyons." Robin responded.

"Hey, you mind telling me why we're gonna fight this guy?" Beast Boy asked.

"Katatz thinks that we're not suitable heroes for Jump City." Robin replied. "He gets this assumption because we weren't capable of defeating Osmosis, all while damaging the H-District in the process."

"Don't forget, we didn't exactly save the day when Malodor attacked, either." Raven added.

"We would've beaten Malodor and there was a chance we could've defeated Osmosis." Robin retorted. "But when Katatz got involved, we didn't necessarily get another chance, and that's why he looks at us as unsuitable heroes. So the plan is to beat Katatz and show him that we're for real."

"Will he be able to follow the T-Car to the desert?" Starfire inquired.

"I think so. Afterall, he made haste at the pizza parlor without any of us noticing." Robin answered.

"Don't remind me of the pizza parlor." Beast Boy moaned as he held his empty stomach.

As the T-Car drove towards the desert, Katatz followed close behind as he dashed on the rooftops.

'_Titans, I will relieve you of your duties as heroes._' Katatz thought to himself. '_This planet needs a hero that can overcome any obstacle and any evil. It is evident to me that you five cannot do so…_'

The Arcanian boy continued to trail the Titans until they found themselves in a canyon-populated region. Trenches and plateaus were noticeable as far as the eye could possibly see, and Katatz knew that this would be the battlefield when the T-Car came to a halt, enabling the Titans to vacate from the technologically advanced vehicle.

The Titans got into a line formation and gazed at a battle-ready Katatz.

"We don't wanna have to hurt someone who isn't causing problems in the city, so I'll give you one last chance." Robin pleaded. "Stop your coup."

"My uprising has a just cause!" Katatz responded with vigor. "I will defeat you."

"Have it your way." Robin responded. "Titans, go!"

The Titans and Katatz charged each other. From a glance, it seemed as if Starfire would make the first attack, which ultimately became a flurry of starbolts; all of which Katatz managed to avoid by phasing out of the path of each individual blast. And with an amazing display of speed, Katatz positioned himself directly in Starfire's face. The positioning came as a shock to the Tameranian girl, but a brief yet cold stare from Katatz was all that was administered to her. And just as fast as he appeared, he vanished. As he phased in close to Cyborg, Katatz delivered a hefty dropkick to the cybernetic Titan.

As Cyborg tried to recover from the attack, Robin jumped into the fray. With an opening attack of a roundhouse kick, the Boy Wonder booted the Arcanian in the temple. Katatz tumbled backwards as Robin chased. Katatz made his way to his feet as he noticed that Robin had jumped into the air, and the Arcanian warrior managed to dodge the leading Titan's quick downward kicks. Robin touched ground and went for a leg sweep, which Katatz easily dodged with a small jump. Robin chained another roundhouse kick to his sweep, but Katatz stopped the attack with his forearm and shrugged the Boy Wonder away, leaving Cyborg the time to get a retaliatory power punch that forced the Arcanian back several feet.

"Boo yah!" Cyborg's victory cry rang loud. "And here's some more gifts; courtesy of Planet Earth!"

Cyborg went on the attack like a predator attacks its prey. Several heavy punches from the technological Titan crunched into Katatz's body.

"If this is how you're gonna be a hero, then the city's doomed." Cyborg taunted while he attacked.

As Cyborg went for a hook punch, Katatz caught his fist. Putting a halt to Cyborg's assault, Katatz disappeared again and reappeared behind him. Applying his legs to his back, a forceful leg shove from Katatz sent Cyborg careening into the wall of a nearby plateau.

With Katatz focused on the follow-through of his attack, he was taken off-guard by a pillar of earth that impaled him from behind while in mid-air. The pillar itself was enraptured in dark energy. But that made little difference when Katatz did a backwards flip-kick to split the post in two, breaking Raven's control of the earth. Control was lost only for a short time, as the dark sorceress gained control of the two shafts of rock and smashed Katatz with them. The manifestations of the ground shattered on impact, however, and Katatz successfully shielded himself from the attack. Raven drifted a short distance away from Katatz out of shock, but the Arcanian merely shrugged and darted off towards his next target; Beast Boy. Starfire flew next to her bewildered dark comrade.

"Okay, why didn't he attack me?" Raven asked.

"Perhaps it is the same reason he did not attack me." Starfire replied.

"I just don't get it. He has no problem battling everyone else, but he doesn't even lay a finger on us." Raven added. "If he wants us defeated so badly, wouldn't he have made some sort of attack against us?"

"I think I may know why we are not being targeted…" Starfire began to hypothesize.

As the two female Titans conversed, Katatz made his charge towards Beast Boy.

"So, you like things fast and furious, huh?" Beast Boy cracked before he transformed into a cheetah.

The two foes dashed towards each other at about the same speed. As Beast Boy went to claw at Katatz, the Arcanian blocked the attack by catching the forelegs of the cheetah and tossing him over his head. Beast Boy landed and charged again. But as the changeling got in a close enough proximity to his opponent, he changed into a squid. Katatz's eyes widened as Beast Boy prepared to attack. Using two tentacles to maintain balance, Beast Boy used the other eight to repeatedly lunge at Katatz. Fortunately for the Arcanian, he was able to dodge the tentacles until he got a firm grip of all eight of them. The bad news is that after constricting Beast Boy's tentacles, the squid shot an inkblot on Katatz's face. Temporarily incapacitated, Beast Boy transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and used his tail to impound the Arcanian into the hard ground. The ground split due to the impact, but as the ground broke apart, Katatz was not so easily broken, as he lifted the massive dinosaur up above his head and chucked Beast Boy back towards the regrouping male Titans.

"Dude, he is _not_ kicking our asses like this…" Beast Boy said as he reverted back to his human form.

"Looks like we're getting pretty ass-kicked to me, BB" Cyborg responded.

"Our previous attacks didn't work." Robin said. "On the plus side, however, we're faring better against Katatz than we did against Osmosis. If we attack all at once, we will probably subdue him. So let's get moving!"

'_Perhaps I am underestimating my opponents. After all, they're not so easily defeatable, or I would have been victorious in this battle by now._' Katatz thought. '_I believe that Robin and Cyborg will be easier to defeat. It is Beast Boy who I will have trouble faring against. I have no knowledge of the animal life on this planet, and he appears to have the ability to change into any animal at will. … Then there are Starfire and Raven. My religious beliefs may bar me from combating them, but they do not share the same restriction, but they will probably not propose too much of a threat._'

Meanwhile, as Starfire and Raven conversed with each other…

"Are you sure he's Arcanian?" Raven asked.

"I am having the hunch that he comes from Arcania." Starfire answered. "He dresses in the attire of an Arcanian warrior, and his blast of light… I am certain that he is Arcanian."

"If what you say is true, it looks like I'll be getting my hands dirty." Raven responded.

Katatz braced himself as Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy simultaneously charged the Arcanian. Beast Boy once again morphed into a squid and helped contribute to a 14-limb barrage of fists, feet, and tentacles. For the most part, Katatz was able to dodge their assault, until he was lashed from behind from one of Beast Boy's tentacles. With his defense broken, Katatz was pummeled.

"We have the upper hand! Don't let up!" Robin ordered.

"You have no choice…" Katatz muffled from within the entanglement of bodily limbs.

A forceful shockwave of energy freed Katatz from the beatdown and flung the male Titans in different directions. Robin regained himself in mid-air, while Cyborg did so along the ground. Katatz had effectively, yet unknowingly defeated Beast Boy, despite his previous fight analysis. Robin tossed a birdarang towards Katatz, but the Arcanian fired a small energy blast to destroy the birdarang.

"Keep your eyes on the birdie!" Katatz heard Cyborg exclaim.

'_Birdie? Where's a birdie? _What's _a birdie?_' Katatz thought to himself as he looked around aimlessly, only to bear the full force of Cyborg's photon beam. "A diversion… I should… have figured…"

Katatz yelled as he tried to push back Cyborg's beam. He eventually forced the beam to a different route, freeing Katatz from the attack. His white shirt and red undershirt had been disintegrated. After tearing off the remnants of his upper attire, Katatz spit a wad of blood and fired his own mighty energy blast at the cybernetic Titan. But before the beam could make contact, a dark barrier appeared before Cyborg and deflected the attack. As the shield dissipated, Raven appeared in front of Cyborg.

"Raven" Cyborg commented. "Man, what took you so long to do something?"

"One of the reasons we lost to Osmosis is because we didn't know our enemy." Raven answered. "So Starfire and I took some time to put two and two together and figure something out that can win us this fight."

"What did you discover?" Robin asked his teammate.

"I learned that you should leave this fight to me." Raven responded as she walked towards Katatz.

'_I have severely underestimated my opponents in this fight._' Katatz pondered as he began to power up.

"No matter how much you power up, you will still lose," Raven's cold voice said.

"Great, a female wishes to challenge my power…" Katatz said.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Do not take this the wrong way. I would love to combat you as I did your teammates, but I am bound to the Divine Presence. My religion bars me from battling you."

"If you want to usurp our hero status, you will have to defeat myself and Starfire, let alone fight against us."

'_She has a point. Raven and Starfire, although female, are still Titans, and I have sworn to defeat them today. Forgive me, Oh Holy One. I must do this…_' Katatz regained focus and prepared himself to fight.

With an upward thrust of his arm, Katatz used his energy to kick up a cloud of dust around Raven. Katatz went on the attack, dashing into the dusty cloud, but as he went for a punch, there was nothing but dust particles. A downward kick from Raven changed that, although Katatz did block her attack. Katatz acted quickly and assaulted the dark sorceress with a barrage of quick punches, but using her dark power, she was able to deflect his punches. And a surge of power shot the Arcanian out of the dissipating dust cloud and away for several yards.

'_So, she utilizes dark power._' Katatz thought to himself.

Katatz cupped his hands and channeled energy. Raven had seen this attack before; _Juu'co Juu'co Miedotat_. It was the attack that Katatz used to vanquish Osmosis. Raven began to channel some of her power as a white orb appeared in the Arcanian's palms.

"In the battle of light and darkness, light always wins." Katatz said.

"The light only makes the darkness stronger." Raven shot back.

From the sidelines…

"That girl has fuckin' lost it!" Cyborg commented.

"I am certain that Raven knows what to do." Starfire replied.

"If I was her, I'd stop trying to be the loner and let my team help. For fuck's sake, she's always shutting us out of everything!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"There's nothing we can do now." Robin said. "Katatz is about to use his most powerful attack. It's all in Raven's hands now."

On the battlefield, Katatz had finished gathering energy.

"Be purified by light! _Juu'co Juu'co Miedotat!"_ Katatz screamed as he fired his attack.

"Starfire, you better be right about this. _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!_" Raven chanted as she fired a dark wave.

"Get out of there!" Beast Boy hollered. "His Kamehameha will eat your beam for breakfast!"

But as the two beams collided, just the opposite occurred. On impact, Katatz's attack seemed to shatter as Raven's beam drilled through it, and ultimately impaled the Arcanian.

"De… mon…" was the last words to come from Katatz's weakened voice as he hit the ground and lay motionless.

Slowly, but surely, the Titans gathered around the defeated alien.

"Whoa… how did you…" Beast Boy's question went interrupted.

"He was right. The light usually does conquer the darkness." Raven explained. "But some darkness is meant to overcome the light. The dark power of Azarath is the Achilles Heel of an Arcanian."

"So, will Katatz ribbit because of your attack?" Starfire asked.

"No. And it's 'croak'." Raven corrected.

"So what do we do with him?" Cyborg asked.

"Let's bring him back to the Tower. We have to get some answers from Katatz." Robin said.

"That's not all we have to get. We need _food_!" Beast Boy bellowed.

"There's stuff at the Tower, so let's get moving." Robin directed his team back to the T-Car.

Cyborg lifted the defeated Arcanian over his shoulder and put him in the T-Car. In moments, they left the canyons.


	5. On the Same Page

"Ya know, I'm really starting to think this ain't such a good idea," the voice of Cyborg was heard through the walls of Titan's Tower.

"We have this under control. So don't worry." Robin reassured his teammate.

The sun fell below the horizon in Jump City, and the Titans returned to their home and base of operations, Titan's Tower. They had returned with the spoils of battle; an unconscious Katatz. Having defeated the Arcanian in an arduous battle in the immediate past, it was time to learn the alien's intentions. Afterall, a powerful ally in battle that goes the way of the heretic and battles those he allied himself with is enough to cause suspicions to arise.

"So, do you have any idea who this guy could be, or any of his motivations?" Cyborg asked his leader.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Robin responded. "We'll just have to wait for Raven to finish her psychoanalysis. It sure is taking her awhile to find everything we need."

"Why wait for Raven?" Beast Boy interrupted. "I have it all figured out!"

Beast Boy dragged a bulletin board from seemingly nowhere. As Robin and Cyborg stood by dumbfounded, Beast Boy began to hypothesize.

"Alright, it all started with a rift in the space-time continuum that threw Kenshin Himura onto Planet Vegeta, the Saiya-jin Homeworld." Beast Boy hypothesized as he followed the timeline using the bulletin board. "The Saiya-jins found Kenshin kicking ass at an alien arcade, but then the Covenant invaded Vegeta. But the Saiya-jins ghetto stomped their scaly asses. After taking two Covenant energy swords, Kenshin said 'Hiten Mitsurugi Style! Space Pod Theft!' and booked Vegeta. Then he crashed on Earth and created a new persona for himself; Katatz. And the rest… sorta follows on it's own."

As a mechanized door opened, Beast Boy's hypothesis was shot down when Raven said, "As usual, you're dead wrong".

As Beast Boy felt defeated, Robin and Cyborg approached their dark female comrade.

"So what's the verdict?" Cyborg asked.

"And why did this take so long?" Robin was next.

"I would've finished earlier, but his mind is honeycombed with thoughts and memories." Raven replied. "It took me awhile to sift through his subconscious to get the information that was important."

The four Titans entered the medical room. Inside, there was equipment that one could see at a typical hospital, mostly machines to determine and display vital signs and diagnostics of both the mind and body. Hooked up to the machines was Katatz, still in a state of unconsciousness from his previous fight.

"I'm surprised Star isn't here to hear about what Raven discovered." Cyborg said. "You'd expect her to wanna know the inside scoop on an alien."

"Hey, you try dragging her away from those documentaries she watches." Beast Boy replied. "It's like trying to separate cookies and milk; it ain't happening."

"We can let her in on the details later, but only if we know the details now." Robin responded. "Raven, what have you learned about Katatz?"

"A lot." Raven answered. "More than we need. It turns out that Katatz is the sole survivor of a planet called Arcania. His entire race was obliterated by bestial invaders that he comes to know as Xeno. Unwillingly, he was exiled from Arcania to avoid being another casualty."

"These Xeno must've been a hell of a force." Cyborg commented. "We've beaten hordes of enemies, and Kaze took it to us in that last fight."

"He would've defeated us if he had not exhausted himself fighting two previous back to back fights immediately before fighting us." Raven added.

"But…" Beast Boy responded, "He was going strong and you took him out."

"Probably because of an elemental advantage." Robin said. "Raven's power seemed like the perfect counter to Katatz's. But if he was fresh, maybe we'd be out of jobs."

"While we're talking about our fight, did you find out why he wanted to fight us so bad?" Cyborg asked Raven.

"Katatz was true to his word." Raven replied. "He honestly thought we weren't suitable defenders of the city. Earth was legendary to the Arcanians. To them, Earth is the Planet of Heroes and Villains. They look at our heroes as chivalrous and almighty entities that can thwart any force of evil. After arriving on this 'fabled' Earth, he believed that the legends his people told were true. And that's why he had such high expectations of our abilities."

"It's almost sad." Beast Boy responded in a sorrowful manner. "To think that his beliefs of Earth were dashed, only after having been here for maybe a couple hours at tops."

"Folk tales are one thing, but reality is another." Raven responded. "That's just the way things are."

"Well, we know what we need to know." Robin said. "C'mon team. Let's let Katatz get his rest." And with that said, Robin exited the medical room.

"I'm gonna go down to the crash site and see if I can salvage his ship." Cyborg said as he was on his way out. "Who knows, we might learn something useful out of Arcanian technology."

"Yeah, I'm outta here. Monkey Madness is almost on…" Beast Boy said as he left Raven alone with the unconscious Arcanian.

The Azarathian sighed. But as she made her way towards the exit, she heard a faint voice. It came from Katatz. "Demon…" was all to come out of the unconscious Arcanian's mouth. With only that slight distraction behind her, Raven left the medical room.

'_No one…_'the Arcanian thought to himself in his state of comatose, '_should see my past…_'

With his final thought, Katatz entered into sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I believe one more push ought to do it, ma'am."

This ma'am was sweating bullets. This was not an easy thing to push, but the pressure of pushing this rested on this woman's shoulders alone. Madly, she screamed out in pain, until the pressure was relieved.

"Well, that is over with. Ma'am, with the blessing of the Divine Presence, greet your son for the very first time."

The infant was wrapped in a white sheet and handed to the loving mother. The culmination of her pregnancy was now lying in her arms.

"Oh, my little _kuzo…_" The mother softly said down to her crying child.

Mother and child snuggled with each other, until a small beam of light began to emit from the baby. Numerous beams then emit from the same source, until in moments, a giant tower of energy enraptured the hospital.

The Arcanian sick house was left in shambles. What was once a structure to protect and rehabilitate the people was now a graveyard covered in debris. The area wasn't entirely dead, however, as the faint sound of crying was heard, although muffled from the debris.

Moments passed, and a man with graying hair and dressed in purple garments arrived at the decimated hospital and followed his ears to the sound of muffled crying. He traced the sobbing to its source and found the same infant that annihilated the hospital only moments ago. The younger Shojo lifted the child from the wreckage and placed the infant in his arms.

"There is always that one in the million chance that someone like you will be born into the world." Shojo said as he looked at the infant's teary, yet sparkling blue eyes. "The annihilation of this facility is the Divine Presence's way of telling you 'You are my agent, and an incredible power is our gift to our newest chosen one'."

Shojo took flight, with a firm hold on the baby.

"It is a shame. The Divine Presence leaves no instruction on how to control your power." Shojo softly spoke. "If I had not discovered you, you would have had to dedicate half of your life to harnessing the powers you were bestowed. But I will teach you to wield your strength, teach you what I know, and otherwise give you the opportunities that I never had."

The flight came to a close as Shojo reached his house. Touching down on the ground, he entered the infant through the gateway towards the rest of the child's life.

"I will name you Katatz." Shojo said. "The name will fit the lifestyle I will place on your shoulders when it is my time to ascend into the Spirited World, and you become a _hero_."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Katatz cracked open his eyes. He took a look outside the window of the medical room. It was sunrise.

"Fitting… that I recollect on my past on the night after my arrival on Earth." Katatz spoke with the softness one would expect from someone waking up.

In moments, Katatz rose from his bed and left the medical room. Outside the medical room, Katatz found himself in a blue hallway. Following it to a mechanized door, Katatz entered the main lobby of Titans Tower.

"Unreal…" Katatz said to himself as he ventured the lobby.

Katatz took everything in. The lobby of Titans Tower included a state-of-the-art media region, a decent kitchen, and an amazing view of the bay below the tower. Katatz was more fixated on the natural aspects of what Titans Tower had to offer.

"The moment I have landed on Earth, I have been in endless combat." Katatz softly spoke. "I never had any opportunity to see any of Earth's marvels… like this bay."

As Katatz was fixated on the view, the mechanized lobby door opened and Raven entered the lobby.

"You're quite the early bird." Raven said.

"What do you want, demon?" Katatz asked as he shifted his focus from the view to the dark sorceress.

"I know you hate me for beating you with dark power, but the name-calling isn't necessary."

"You are what you are."

"And I'm certainly not a demon."

"Tell that to my beliefs…"

"Isn't that what I'm doing now?"

"I am not convinced that you are being truthful." Katatz proceeded to look towards the bay again, but this time with scorn on his face, which he didn't particularly want to show Raven. "You overcame my strength with dark power; bastardizing my belief of 'light overcomes the darkness'. Then, while I was unable to defend myself, your clan took me here and you proceeded to probe my mind without my consent for information I would have gladly given to you if you had only _asked_! That is demonic, at least… character-wise."

"We couldn't risk anything. We needed to know your intentions for your actions yesterday. We had to know _you_."

"Well congratulate yourself. You know me now. You know _everything_ about me; particularly what people like you should not know!"

Raven stood in awe. The two stood in silence as Katatz let out a heavy sigh, then faced Raven once more.

"Perhaps I am being overzealous…" Katatz said. "You know what I expected from Earth. This planet was merely a legend before I actually crash landed on it. After landing here, I thought that the other legends my people have created about Earth were also true." Katatz took a short pause as he examined Raven, causing her to blush somewhat. "It turns out those legends were false."

"Not entirely." Raven responded. "You're letting one day here affect your entire outlook of Earth. You might be surprised at what else you'll notice while you're here."

"You are right." Katatz replied. "I have had a night to think about my outlook towards Earth; towards the Titans."

"You've thought it over in your sleep?"

"Yes. I once thought you all were not fit to protect this region of Earth. Defeating me in battle did not distort that thought like I believed it would. But I later acknowledged the fact that although Shojo, a legendary hero amongst my people, trained me, I was, and still am, a novice in regards to being a hero. But you have experience in this field. You knew long before I realized anything that heroism is a demanding role. And for this, I wish to apologize."

"Don't worry about it."

The mechanized doors to the lobby once again opened. This time, Cyborg entered the room. After letting out a heavy yawn, Cyborg said, "Shit, it's 6:15. You're usually not up until around eight, Rae."

"I woke up early. It's no big deal." Raven responded. "Besides, you usually sleep in until one in the afternoon."

"Yeah, but I know at least _one_ argument in here that woke me up." Cyborg said in a seething tone.

"Heh… sorry. My fault." Katatz apologized.

"Well, since you're up and running, Kaze, I want you to follow me." Cyborg requested.

"Kaze?" Katatz asked.

"He's not talking to me. He called me 'Rae'." Raven sarcastically said.

"Ah…" Katatz confirmed as he followed Cyborg out of the lobby.

In the hallways…

"So, where are you taking me?" Katatz asked the metallic Titan.

"I salvaged your ship last night." Cyborg answered. "Real fucked up from the landing, but I gathered what I could. I hoped I could learn something about Arcanian technology as I repaired it, but I just couldn't fix it up."

"You asked me to follow you just so you could tell me that?" Katatz questioned.

"Nah. I thought you'd be more interested to know what I made out of your space pod." Cyborg responded. "After all, it's gonna be for you."

"You're giving me a gift after forcing you into combat?" Katatz continued to ask as he and Cyborg boarded an elevator.

"Raven gave us the inside scoop. Your intentions were good. Misled, but certainly not evil." Cyborg said as the elevator took them to the bottom of Titans Tower.

After exiting the elevator, Cyborg led Katatz into what could best be described as a garage. The T-Car, R-Cycle, and the B-Ped were all here, as well as a plethora of mechanical equipment. Cyborg led Katatz to a structure that was covered by a white sheet.

"Kaze, this is my way of telling you 'Sorry for messing with your tech'." Cyborg said as he took off the white sheet. "Check out the K-Craft. Using what I learned from your ship, I made a motorcycle that uses propulsion instead of wheels."

Katatz's jaw dropped. His sleek and silver vehicular gift was truly a piece of work.

"Ha! I take it you like it." Cyborg said.

"It is… unbelievable." Katatz responded. "Unfortunately, I do not know how to operate this new machine."

"No prob! I'll show you after the team breakfast." Cyborg reassured. "I'm sure that'll be any minute, because I bet you woke everyone up when you were arguing with Raven. You're welcome to join us if you want."

As Cyborg and Katatz got on the elevator again, Katatz said, "I'd be glad to finally break my fasting…"


	6. One of the Guys

Lengthy Author's Note: Don't worry, this jizz stain of a fic will start the second you scroll past this meaningful note. I just feel obliged to respond to a review that looks like it needs some questions answered.

_Cosmetor posted:_

Hi, it's me again. Why'd you take off Universal Apocalypse? On to the review!

Well, this is a very good story in most areas; I'm glad you got rid of the toilet humor that abounded in your earlier fanfics. I tend to concentrate on the negative, though, so here I go.

1: "Shojo" is Japanese for "girl", so it's not a good name for an elderly male martial arts master.  
2: There's a bit too much swearing for my tastes.  
3: A few out-of-place game references.

That's it for the flaws, I guess. I'd also like to say that your writing style is much better. Bye.

Let me start by saying that it's a nice change of pace to see a recognizable face still reviewing my stories. Now if only everyone else from my _The Epic Battle_ days would check out this tale. While I have _The Epic Battle_ fresh in thought, let me explain why _Universal Apocalypse_ got the dilly smacker into the poop chute.

There's a little clause in FanFiction's story-hosting policy that destroys the scripted style of writing.

_**Entries not allowed:** _

_Chat/**script** format and keyboard dialogue based entries._

The problem is with scripted format is… oh wait, my apologies. There is _nothing_ wrong with script format. I know that the staff of FanFiction can't fall asleep at night because someone didn't feel like carrying on conversations with quotation marks, but if William Shakespeare's renditions can get away with using script format, why can't anyone else's work do the same? Or maybe _Universal Apocalypse_ just sucked so much that leaving it on this site would cause brain hemorrhage to those who read it, despite the 180+ reviews saying I had outdone myself in finishing out _The Epic Battle_.

Moving along. About the Shojo thought, although it means "girl" in Japanese, who knows what it could mean in Arcanian.

Too much swearing? I think I've appropriately labeled this fic PG-13, but that's just me. After all, that average of two curse words per chapter make me wanna consider an R-rating for this fic.

And the out-of-place game references are to help stir up a mental picture. Like when Robin told Katatz to "get those n00b sticks out of his face" in the fight against Osmosis, nobody would've known what these energy swords would've looked like because I have no idea how I could accurately describe the Halo 2 energy swords. Well, I suppose I could've said they're the combination of a lightsaber and a tuning fork. But everything I put in the story; I put there for a reason.

Now, on with the show.

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A pleasant aroma was emitting from a stovetop. And although a running stovetop can emit a scent, it is only a foul stench that can be emitted when it burns. Cooking breakfast platters within several frying pans were the source of the favorable stench. A flick of the pans tossed eggs, pancakes, bacon, and ham into the air, only for them to land neatly on plates in an organized pattern. With self-satisfaction in a meal well prepared, Cyborg celebrated to himself.

"Boo yah!" Cyborg exclaimed. "Yo, Titans! Time to dig in!"

Titan's Tower's kitchen was part of the main lobby. Cyborg's proclamation was within earshot of the other Titans. One by one, the Titans gathered around the dining booth.

"Eggs and pancakes this morning. Nice." Robin complimented.

"Personally I long for _moldolf kivon_, but the cakes of pan are also appealing." Starfire commented.

"You find _everything _appealing." Raven said as she opted for her herbal tea.

"Then that just means she'll eat my cooking." Cyborg said as he took a bite out of his ham. And with processed pig in his orifice, Cyborg asked "Hey, where's BB and Kaze?"

"So just how does one manage to fit all this world has to offer within that box?" The voice of Katatz was heard.

"It's TV." Beast Boy responded as they both took a seat. "People make shows from who knows where and they're sent to the television."

"So everything goes into the 'TV' from other places?" Katatz continued to inquire.

"It's a little more complicated than that." Robin interrupted. "People make programs and signals are sent through cable. You're just witnessing the program's sights and sounds."

"What he said." Beast Boy replied as he went to take a bite out of his pancakes. But noticing a piece of bacon sticking out from the pancake, he dropped his fork and said "Yo Cy, is this some sort of joke!"

"Nigga please," Cyborg responded. "It ain't no joke. You need meat in your diet."

"No way! Not eating meat, ever!" Beast Boy shot back.

As Cyborg and Beast Boy bickered, Robin's attention turned to Katatz, who was merely staring at his platter.

"You should try it. You might like it." Robin assured.

In a flash, Katatz picked up his plate and slid the entire meal into his mouth in one fell swoop. After inhaling the actual platter, Katatz made an effort to devour the plate and the utensils, but to no avail. Those weren't meant to be eaten. As the Titans picked up their jaws from the ground, Katatz belched, shattering some glass cups. All the Titans could do is stare in awe.

"That was quite delectable." Katatz said with content before noticing the mesmerized stare of the Titans. After a short period of silence, Katatz responded with a simple "What?"

After his silence, Beast Boy broke into laughter and complimented Katatz's belch with "Nice one!"

"It is customary of my people to belch in order to show appreciation for the meal eaten." Katatz replied. "Although I am baffled by these inedible devices that helped provide the food."

"The thing that held your food is a plate." Robin explained. "The metal things are utensils. You use those whenever you can't eat with your hands."

"Well, I hope I can get used to this and Earth's other customs." Katatz responded. "My ship was remodeled into a land vehicle, so I do not think I will be leaving this planet anytime soon."

"You're welcome to stay here." Cyborg offered.

"Yes! Stay with us! You can learn much from us! I have, and you can as well!" Starfire said with glee.

"You might even make a good Titan." Robin stated. "We had a team meeting while you were recovering in the Med Room. We're impressed by your abilities and your motives are good. So we figured we'd invite you into the team."

The mood in the room took a turn towards the serious. What was shits and giggles moments ago turned into the opportunity to bring a new member into the Teen Titans.

'_A Titan?_' Katatz thought. '_After what we put each other through yesterday, he extends the offer to have me join their ranks. Well, I suppose it would be a good learning experience to learn about Earth with familiar faces as guides. And the team could benefit from my presence._' "Very well… I will join your clan."

"Well that was a quick response." Robin responded. "Well, welcome to the team."

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Breakfast had passed as the day strolled into the afternoon. But who has the time to notice what part of the day it is when you're in a rigorous training session? Such was the case with Robin and Katatz, who took some time to get some combat practice on the rocky terrain outside of the tower.

Katatz shot three small blasts towards the Boy Wonder. Robin drew his bow staff and avoided the first while impaling the next two. After a twirl of his staff, Robin went on the charge. He executed a staff lunge, but Katatz phased out and appeared on the tip of the staff, bizarrely not weighing the staff down to the ground. Regardless, Robin went for a roundhouse kick, which resulted in Katatz somersaulting over his new team leader to avoid the strike. The follow-through of Robin's kick continued as Katatz landed behind him, and the Arcanian was forced to block the attack with a forearm. Thrusting the Boy Wonder's leg to the side, Katatz was open for attack, which he punched Robin in the stomach and forced him backwards. Robin slid on the rocky terrain and regained his position.

"Yeah… you're a catch, alright." Robin said.

"It is not becoming of a team leader to be outfought by a subordinate." Katatz commented. "I have also noticed that the other Titans have unique talents, but you merely possess commendable fighting prowess.

"That _is _my talent." Robin slyly responded. "I may not have superpowers, but I'm just as strong as most other people with them; if not stronger. Like you, I've also been trained in combat, and that's a decent enough substitute for real superpowers."

"Interesting compensation." Katatz replied. "Shall we continue our sparring?"

"Yeah. I wanna see what the both of us can _really_ do." The Boy Wonder said as he and his new recruit charged towards each other and went for heavy punches.

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Two fighters collided, but one was able to gain the upper hand with a heavy uppercut. As the red fighter was thrown into the air, the blue fighter grabbed its leg and slammed it onto the ground. A "KO" notification filled the big-screen TV's monitor and Cyborg jumped off of the sofa and did a victory strut.

"Oh yeah! Go Cyborg! Go Cy!" Cyborg hollered. "Man, BB, that was jail rape, just like the last twenty games."

"No fair! You told me after a couple games of _Manic Mayhem_, we would play a _real_ game, like _Thrill Kill_!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Hey, this _is_ a real game. This _is_ reality, and the reality that I can whoop your ass at any game hasn't quite sunk in yet." Cyborg taunted.

"Put in _Thrill Kill_ and we'll see who gets ass kicked!" Beast Boy shot back.

"Fine, if you wanna have a sandy vagina all over it, fine. We'll play _Thrill Kill_." Cyborg said. "Kaze, this one can have more than two players. You in?"

"I do not know the first thing about these games of video." Katatz said as he sat back. "Besides, I do not wish to intrude upon the kicking of ass."

"Suit yourself. But you're gonna have to rock the sticks sooner or later." Cyborg said.

"And you're gonna have to learn some Earth lingo so we can put down Cy when he throws his one-android video game victory parties." Beast Boy insulted.

"Oh, it's on!" Cyborg retorted. "You can suck at video games all you want, but you ain't getting away with _that_ one!"

'_Entertaining._' Katatz contemplated. '_I wonder if the trip to this "mall of shopping" with Starfire will be as… interesting as this virtual feud._'

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'_Fascinating…'_ Katatz thought as he took in his surroundings; the concrete jungle known as the Jump City Shopping Mall.

"The other Titans do not find enjoyment in accompanying me to the mall of shopping." Starfire told her alien teammate. "Perhaps you will find interest in this place while I take you to get new clothings."

"Yes. I do not like wearing Beast Boy's battle attire." Katatz responded. "While it was nice of him to let me use a spare uniform, it is too constricting."

"Fret not, friend. We are here." Starfire assured as they entered a clothing shop. "I too have clothings I need to purchase. You should be able to find what you need over there." Starfire pointed towards the men's department of the store. Her finger redirected towards the fitting rooms as she said, "And there is where you are able to try what you find."

Katatz drifted towards the Men's section and went on the scour for a new outfit; one that would duplicate his former Arcanian battle attire. But alas, it is not so easy when you're sifting through a sea of jeans and "How do you keep an idiot busy" shirts. But eventually he found garments to replace his ravaged clothes. And these garments were a nice fit; baggy khaki pants, a red shirt, and a white vest overtop.

"This is quite comfortable," Katatz said as he admired his new clothes in a mirror.

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'_This is _not_ comfortable._' Katatz thought to himself. '_How much longer will the demon keep me in suspense?_' Then he was tossed a book.

"You need to be cultured." Raven spoke monotonously. "You'll need to know as much of Earth's customs as possible so you have some sort of idea why things are the way they are here."

"That is why the Titans have shown me their ways." Katatz added.

"True, but you should learn our ways through other eyes." Raven responded. "There are more perspectives of life than just ours. _Everyone_ is a source of knowledge. Besides, I'm not losing you to Beast Boy…"

"Lose me to Beast Boy? I do not understand." Katatz inquired.

"Trust me on this one. Beast Boy is _not_ what I'd call a role model." Raven replied.

Katatz sat bewildered. Beast Boy, along with the other Titans, was responsible for enlightening the Arcanian in order for him to blend in with Earth's society. Trying to disregard her statement, Katatz sighed and looked down at a book entitled "Exodus".

"So… will I be able to read this?" Katatz asked his half-demon teammate.

"You should." Raven answered. "I have literature from all over the universe, including Arcanian novels. And I'm guessing you've noticed that English and Arcanian are almost identical, verbally and textually."

"Ah…" Katatz said to himself.

"You'll find this book interesting. It's about a person who is born in one culture, then forced to become part of another." Raven said. "It's sort of like your ordeal, which is why I'm having you check this one out, first."

Before Katatz could begin reading the recommended tale, an alarm sounded.

"Is that normal!" Katatz shouted as he covered his ears.

"Yeah, and we have work to do." Raven said. "Come on!"

In a heartbeat, Raven got up and darted towards the briefing room, followed closely behind by Katatz. Upon their entrance, they met up with Robin and Starfire. Cyborg and Beast Boy followed shortly afterwards.

"What do we have?" Raven asked.

In response to the sorceress's question, Robin activated a monitor that lie behind him. An image appeared, revealing a manly figure in a black body suit and a black and gold mask.

"Slade…" Robin hatefully responded.

A/N: You know how everything that's awesome usually has a dash of suckiness somewhere within it? Well don't worry, the coolness comes back next chapter.


	7. The Matrix Sucks

First, there was Neutral. Time passed and Evil emerged. This disruption of balance can never stand, so Good rose to challenge Evil in an eternal struggle; a clash of two titans so to speak. The feud lives on forever, and can resurface at any given moment in any given location in our physical plane. Particularly, one of the Teen Titan's most dangerous nemeses had made his presence known once again. And this Evil that disrupted the Neutral balance of the universe had a name that could leave distaste in the mouths of some.

"Slade…" Robin said in a hateful tone.

"Robin." Slade calmly responded. "After all this time, I'm flattered to find that we're still friends"

'_Friends? Robin is bitter in tone._' Katatz thought to himself. Well, not really to himself.

'_It's sarcasm. Slade uses it to play his mind games._' Raven telepathically thought to Katatz.

'_Seems sensible enough._' Katatz mind spoke. '_Now if you do not mind, I wish to seclude my thoughts to myself. Close this telepathic link, please._'

"What are you up to this time!" Robin commanded out of his adversary.

"I call it 'the Oblivion Matrix'." Slade replied as he displayed a complex machine behind him. "My machine is wired to the Earth's Mantle. Once activated, it will force an eruption. The following sea of lava and fire will make the city go… up in smoke."

"Freak." Beast Boy commented. "What is up with you and always trying to destroy the city?"

"That's an easy question." Slade answered. "What kind of villain would I be if I did not attempt to obliterate everything?"

"Obliterate…" Katatz said to himself.

"Yes." Slade responded. "You must be Katatz. An alien juggernaut is quite an addition to the Titans. With so much strength on your side, you should have _no_ problem bringing me to justice."

"No problem at all…" Katatz said gritting his teeth before hastily leaving the briefing room.

"Katatz! Where are you going!" Robin asked.

"I lost one civilization. I _won't_ lose another!" Katatz yelled as he made haste.

"He has the right idea, Robin." Slade calmly stated. "The city faces the threat of cataclysm and you stand here listening to my doomsday threats." Upon this statement, the visual communications link was severed.

"We have no idea where this Oblivion Matrix is." Robin said. "We're on the brink of disaster and we don't even know where to start looking."

"The place from which Slade communicated to us seemed familiar." Starfire inquired.

"The docks." Raven said.

"Warehouse 32 to be precise." Cyborg replied. "Slade was able to jam the Titan mainframe's tracers, but not mine."

"Good work, Cyborg." Robin said as he pulled out his Titan's com-link. "Katatz, would you at least like to know where to start looking for Slade?"

No answer.

"There's a red button on the side of the communicator. Hold that in and respond." Robin ordered.

"You need not inform me." Katatz answered through the com-link. "I can sense his presence from this facility."

"Alright, then when you get to Warehouse 32, wait for us." Robin commanded as he ended the transmission. "There's no way I'm letting this turn into another Chronoton Detonator incident. Titans, Go!"

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Katatz weaved through traffic with his hovercycle that Cyborg had created using the remnants of his damaged space pod. For his first ride, he maneuvered quite nicely. And surprising enough, he was able to abide by some traffic laws of the city. He had Cyborg to thank for that, but it made no difference now. Katatz had to get to Slade.

'_I never had the chance to prevent the destruction of Arcania._' Katatz thought to himself. '_Now with this Oblivion Matrix, existence is once again threatened. But this time, I can do something about it._'

"Katatz! Do you copy?" The sound of Robin's voice once again spoke through Katatz's communicator.

"No, I cannot duplicate myself." Katatz answered.

"That'll do." Raven's voice spoke through the communicator.

"I recall Slade pulling a similar stunt like this a long time ago." Robin recollected. "Slade threatened to freeze time indefinitely by destroying all Chronotons with a Chronoton Detonator, but that was merely a ruse to conceal a trap. I'm guessing that this is also a trap. Be ready for anything and expect things you might not expect."

"Chronoton Detonation? How did you fall for _that_?" Katatz boldly asked. "There is not a detonator strong enough to freeze time indefinitely, and if there was, nobody could possibly feel its effects."

"We know that now. And speaking of now, _now_ is all that matters." Robin stated.

"Of course." Katatz said. "But remember, there is no better teacher than Time. Learn from it or you are, how you say, fucked." The transmission was promptly ended.

Within the confines of the T-Car…

"How prophetic…" Raven said with a small amount of amazement.

"Yeah." Beast Boy said as he laughed. "Out of all the things he learned so far, the first thing he says is 'fuck'." Beast Boy continued to chuckle afterwards.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Raven inquired.

"Robin, what shall be your battle slogan when we confront Slade?" Starfire asked.

"I don't know." Robin said. "I was thinking something along the lines of 'the Oblivion Matrix really does cause destruction. It causes us to want to destroy you', but it's a little long-winded."

"Well come up with something quick, because we're almost there." Cyborg said as he raced towards Warehouse 32.

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The Docks. For the most part, these docks are just like any other. They're the center operations location for overseas imports and exports. However, this time around, the import was six teenage heroes attempting to stop obliteration from exporting itself throughout the city. With a screeching halt, Katatz stopped his hovercycle at the entrance of Warehouse 32. On the outside, it was like the other warehouses, aside from the gigantic "32" plastered on the building walls. Inside was a different story; the Oblivion Matrix.

"I can feel it. He is here." Katatz said.

As he dismounted from his hovercycle, the T-Car stopped next to the Arcanian, and the other five Titans quickly vacated the custom-built automobile.

"Ha! If you thought you were gonna get first dibs on Slade, then forget it. My baby here is the fastest thing on wheels." Cyborg gloated.

"Uh… fascinating." Katatz answered.

"C'mon, we don't have time to waste. Let's move." Robin instructed as they entered the warehouse.

Warehouse 32. Just like all the other warehouses, except with a "32" plastered on each outside wall. The inside warranted no differentiable description, as it was too dark to really take in the structure's inner surroundings.

"Dude, we came all the way out here to stop his doomsday! The least Slade could do is kick on the lights!" Beast Boy moaned.

At his "request", the lights flicked on, and the Titans found themselves surrounded by Slade's sentry drones.

"I preferred the darkness." Starfire said.

"Tell Slade that we have our own oblivion in store for him." Robin taunted. "Titans, go!"

"Begone!" Katatz exclaimed as he thrust his arm into the air, causing multiple towers of energy to emerge from the ground, shafting each sentry drone and causing their demise. The attack not only reduced the drones to scrap, but it pierced through the ceiling and destroyed the lighting in the room. As the roof was reduced to Swiss cheese, the moonlight seeped into the room, as Katatz said, "You're right, Robin. We don't have time to waste. We need to find the Oblivion Matrix."

"That was quite the light show." A voice spoke from within the veil of the darkness. "Tell me, do you do encores?" A figure emerged from the darkness. A figure that was Slade.

"Slade." The Titans said in despising unison.

"Where's the Matrix!" Robin demanded.

"That question can be answered with another." Slade said in his calm demeanor. "If I want to destroy this city, why would I easily divulge that information? Come now, Robin, you were my apprentice back in the day. You should know me better than this."

"I _know_ how much you need to be brought to justice…" Robin said as he squinted his eyes.

"And I know how incapable you are of performing such a tall task." Slade said as he entered a charge too fast for typical Titan eyes.

'_He is fast… but not too fast for me._' Katatz thought to himself.

Before the Titans could react, Slade was in striking distance. Slade went for a punch at Robin, but Katatz's quick reflexes intervened as he caught his fist. Almost instantly, they broke into a scuffle; a flurry of fast punches and forearm blocks to be precise. And after two fists collided, both Slade and Katatz knocked each other back into a backflip, landing on opposite ends of the bewildered Titans into fighting positions.

"Man, they're fast!" Cyborg commented.

Slade entered a normal tall-standing stance and said, "Impressive, Katatz. It has been a long time since anyone has truly been able to match my fighting talents."

"I have been trained by the best…" Katatz mentioned.

"Robin, I hope you're able to grasp all of this." Slade insulted. "I may no longer be under Trigon's power, but since I broke free of his control, there has been… 'substantial rub-off'. He's not sovereign to me, but I possess greater strength than that he originally bestowed upon me, and it's because I've harnessed that strength and enhanced it. Face it, Robin… I'm big game; too big for you."

"You may have strength, but the bigger they are, the harder they fall." Robin said. "We have our mission! We need to disable the Oblivion Matrix! Katatz, I'm counting on you to beat Slade! Everyone else, let's move!"

"You're starting to put aside your pride. You might consider dropping the 'boy' in 'Boy Wonder'." Slade taunted once again as he pointed to an elevator. "That elevator will take you to an underground passage that will lead you to the Oblivion Matrix… amongst other things."

"Yep, this is a trap." Raven said.

"Well, the Matrix is not in front of us." Starfire said.

"Star's right. We just gotta go down there and be on guard. If we're gonna start our search, it might as well be down there." Cyborg said.

"Titans, go!" Robin said as the Titans charged towards the elevator. One by one, the Titans boarded the lift.

'_Katatz!_' Raven telepathically spoke to her teammate.

'_Is… something wrong?_' Katatz responded.

'_Slade is capable of horrible things. This is your first confrontation with him, so you don't understand what it's like to stare him down_.' Raven spoke. '_Please, be careful._'

'_You have nothing to worry about_.' Katatz spoke as he smiled towards his half-demon partner.

The elevator began to penetrate into the ground, and soon the Titans were out of Katatz's sight. He was alone with quite possibly the most dangerous man in Jump City, placed with the tall order of having to defeat him in combat.

"I am a super soldier; genetically enhanced to be physically superior to any human." Slade bragged. "I was bestowed an awesome power by a demon overlord. I grow stronger as the days pass. And yet here you stand, ready to fight the most powerful man in the world. You really _are_ new to the Earth."

"How about we skip the babbling and do battle." Katatz defiantly proposed.

"As you wish…" Slade complied.


End file.
